Rental Law

A lease can be made for a definite and undetermined period of time. The lease agreement, which will expire without any notification upon the expiration of the agreed period, is for a fixed period; other lease agreements are deemed to have been concluded for an indefinite period. The parties to the lease agreement are the lessee who benefits from the leased property for a price, and the lessee who consents to this benefit in return for the price he/she receives.

In the Law No. 6570 on Real Estate Leases, the principle of contract, not ownership, is accepted and the adjectives of “lessor” and “proprietorship” do not need to be collected in the same person. Since it is possible to rent the immovable property belonging to someone else and the relevant contract is legally valid, the lessor does not have to be the owner of the property. In other words, a lease agreement can be made in which the owner is not a party, and as a rule, the rights and obligations arising from that contract belong to the parties of the contract. The principal performance obligation of the lessee in the lease agreement, payment of the rental fee; The main performance obligation of the lessor is to keep the leased property ready for the use of the lessee during the lease.

Responsibilities of the Lessor arising from the Lease Agreement:

The lessor bears the compulsory insurance, tax and similar obligations related to the leased property, unless otherwise agreed or stipulated in the law.
The lessor is obliged to bear the ancillary expenses incurred by himself or the third party regarding the use of the leased property.
The lessor is responsible for the defects of the leased property at the time of delivery. If the leased item becomes defective later, the lessee may ask the lessor to correct the defects or to make a reduction in the rental price proportional to the defect or to repair the damage. The tenant’s right to terminate the contract in case of significant defects is reserved.

Tenant’s Responsibilities arising from the Rental Agreement:

The tenant is obliged to pay the rent on time.
Obligation to use the leased property with care
Duty of respect to neighbors

Housing and Roofed Workplace Rents:

Since the tenant is the weak side of the contract in residential and roofed workplace rentals, the legislator has arranged this issue in the TCO with a special distinction to protect the tenant in terms of quality and content.

Housing and roofed workplace rental agreements can be agreed for a fixed or indefinite period. If a definite or implied period is specified, a lease agreement that will expire after the agreed period without any notice is a fixed-term rental agreement.

Fixed-term residence and roofed workplace rents can be terminated by notification or through a lawsuit. Termination of fixed-term lease agreements for residences and roofed workplaces by notification is regulated in Article 347 of the TCO. According to the aforementioned article, “For residential and roofed workplace rentals, the contract is deemed to be extended for one year under the same conditions, unless the tenant notifies at least fifteen days before the end of the term of the fixed-term contracts. The lessor cannot terminate the contract based on the expiry of the contract period. However, at the end of the ten-year extension period, the lessor may terminate the contract without giving any reason, provided that it gives notice at least three months before the end of each extension year following this period. In indefinite-term lease agreements, the lessee can terminate the contract at any time, and the lessor, after ten years from the beginning of the lease, with a notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions. In cases where the right of termination can be exercised according to the general provisions, the lessor or the lessee may terminate the contract.

Termination of Lease Agreement and Case for Eviction

-The Tenant’s Termination of the Rental Agreement by Notification

According to TCO article 347 numbered 6098; For residential and office rentals, the contract is deemed to be extended for one year under the same conditions, unless the tenant notifies at least fifteen days before the end of the fixed-term lease term. The tenant has the authority to terminate the contract by giving notice at least 15 days before the end of the contract period. In indefinite-term lease agreements, the lessee can always terminate the contract with a notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions. The validity of the notice of termination in residential and roofed workplace rentals depends on its written form.

For immovables rented to be used as family residences, the lessee cannot terminate the lease agreement without the express consent of his spouse. If it is not possible to obtain this consent or if the spouse refrains from giving his consent without just cause, the tenant may ask the judge to make a decision on this issue. In case the non-tenant spouse becomes a party to the lease agreement by notifying the lessor, the lessor is obliged to notify the lessee and his spouse separately, with the termination notice and a payment period depending on the termination notice.

– Evacuation of the Leased Due to the Requirement of the Current Owner or the New Owner:

If the current owner has an obligation to use the leased property for himself, his spouse, descendants, descendants or other dependents due to the need for a residence or workplace, at the end of the term in fixed-term contracts, termination period and termination in accordance with the general provisions on rent in indefinite-term contracts. It may end with a lawsuit to be filed within one month, starting from the date to be determined in accordance with the deadlines for the notification.

If the person who subsequently acquires the leased property has an obligation to use it for himself, his spouse, descendants, descendants or other persons whom he is obliged to look after due to housing or workplace needs, he will open the lease contract six months later, provided that he notifies the lessee in writing within one month from the date of acquisition. It can end with a lawsuit. The person who subsequently acquires the leased property can also use his right to terminate the contract due to necessity through a lawsuit to be filed within one month starting from the end of the contract period.

-Evacuation of the Leased Due to Reconstruction and Zoning:

If it is necessary to repair, expand or change the leased property for the purpose of rebuilding or zoning, and it is impossible to use the leased property during these works, a period will be determined starting from the end of the term in fixed-term contracts, the termination period in accordance with the general provisions regarding the lease in indefinite-term contracts and the date to be determined in accordance with the periods stipulated for the termination notification. can end with a lawsuit to be filed within a month.

Immovables that have been evacuated for reconstruction and zoning purposes cannot be rented to someone else unless three years have passed without a justified reason. The former tenant has a priority right to lease the immovables that have been reconstructed and reconstructed, in their new condition and with the new rental price. This right must be exercised within one month following the written notice of the lessor; Unless this priority right is terminated, the immovable cannot be rented to another person after three years. If the lessor violates these provisions, he is obliged to pay compensation to the former tenant, not less than the annual rent in the last rental year.

– Evacuation of the Tenant Due to Written Eviction Commitment:

If the lessee undertakes to vacate the leased property on a certain date in writing after the delivery of the leased property, but has not vacated, the lessor may terminate the lease agreement within one month starting from this date by applying for enforcement or by filing a lawsuit.

-Evacuation of the Leased Due to Two Justified Notices:

In the lease agreements of less than one year, within the lease term; In lease agreements with a term of one year or longer, if the lessor has caused him to be given two justified warnings in writing for not paying the rent for a rental year or for a period exceeding one rental year, the lessor will be entitled to a letter starting from the end of the lease term and the lease year in which the warnings are made for leases longer than one year. Within a month, the lease can be terminated by litigation.

– Termination of the Lease Agreement after the Ten-Year Extension Period:

At the end of the ten-year extension period of the lease agreement, the lessor may terminate the agreement without giving any reason, provided that it gives notice at least three months before the end of each extension year following this period. In indefinite-term lease agreements, the lessee can terminate the contract at any time, and the lessor, after ten years from the beginning of the lease, with a notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions.

– Evacuation by Execution without Judgment Due to Non-Payment of Rental Fee:

Special provisions have been arranged under the title of “Special provisions about rents and the evacuation of leased immovables” in the ECC, and these provisions provide the lessor with the opportunity to evict their tenants through execution without a verdict. If the lessor submits the request for eviction without judgment to the enforcement office, if the tenant does not clearly and definitively object to the rental agreement and the signature on the written rental agreement, if any, within the seven-day legal period, it is deemed to have accepted the rental agreement. The lessor may request a lien for his receivables, as well as request the evacuation of the tenant from the leased property.

-Existence of Residence Suitable for Occupation:

If the tenant or his/her spouse has a residence suitable for living within the borders of the same district or town, if the lessor does not know this at the time of establishment of the rental agreement, he/she may terminate the agreement through a lawsuit within one month from the end of the agreement.

Determination of Rental Price:

The agreements of the parties regarding the rental price to be applied in the renewed rental periods are valid provided that they do not exceed the change rate in the consumer price index in the previous rental year according to the twelve-month averages.

If an agreement has not been made by the parties on this matter, the rental price is determined by the judge on a fair basis, taking into account the situation of the leased property, provided that it does not exceed the change rate according to the twelve-month averages in the consumer price index of the previous rental year.

Lease Determination Cases:

For the case of determination of the rental price; Conditions of a valid lease agreement and legal interest in filing the lawsuit are sought. In addition, the lawsuit for the determination of the rental price can only be filed for the determination of the rental prices of residences and roofed workplaces.

A lawsuit for determination of the rental price can be filed at any time. However, if this lawsuit is filed until the end of the following new rental period, provided that the lawsuit is filed at the latest thirty days before the start of the new period or the lessor has given a written notification to the lessee that the rental price will be increased within this period, the rental fee to be determined by the court, binds the tenant from the beginning of this new lease period. If there is a provision in the contract that the rental price will be increased in the new rental period, the rental price to be determined by the court in the lawsuit to be filed until the end of the new rental period will also be valid as of the beginning of this new rental period.

If an agreement has been made between the parties regarding the rental price and the rental period is less than 5 years; Rental price increase rate can be determined freely by the parties, provided that it is not higher than the CPI increase rate of the previous rental year. In this way, if an agreement has been made within the legal limits and the lease term has not exceeded 5 years, it will not be possible to substitute a rent determination lawsuit.

If no agreement has been made between the parties and the rental period is less than 5 years; In this case, it will be possible to substitute the determination case. In this case, the parties are obliged to pay the rent, the rate of increase, etc. may request a determination from the court. The court will make a determination regarding these issues, taking into account the concrete situation and precedent values. However, the rent increase rate to be determined here cannot be higher than the CPI increase rate of the previous year.

In lease agreements for more than five years or renewed after five years; In this case, regardless of whether there is an agreement between the parties, the rent determination case can be substituted. At this point; The situation of the real estate, comparable real estate, CPI increase rate, equity and other issues will be taken into account and a rental price will be determined accordingly. Here, the judge is not limited to the CPI increase rate of the previous year.

Foreigners and Immigration Law

Since we are aware of the fact that we provide services in developing Turkey, which has become a country of immigration, as a country of immigration, we, as Usul Hukuk, also work in line with the wishes of foreign clients.

With our staff with foreign language proficiency, we provide legal support regarding the residence and work permits of foreigners who want to live in Turkey or reside through commercial relations, as well as citizenship applications of foreigners who want to acquire Turkish citizenship. While we support our clients in their processes in this field and in the solution of all legal problems they may encounter, we follow the developments carefully.